Chinese herbalists have over the centuries identified individual herbs that are believed to have certain beneficial effects on the human body. Included among these herbs are Radix Polygoni Multiflori, referred to by Chinese herbalists as He Shou Wu. This herb is traditionally believed to be useful in the treatment of kidney and liver deficiencies, premature graying of the hair, relief of constipation, and skin lesions. Another traditional herb is Rhizoma Drynariae, otherwise known as Gu Sui Bu, which is traditionally believed to aid the liver and kidney, to assist in the healing of bone fractures, dislocations and tissue trauma, and to reduce premature balding and to promote hair growth. The physical characteristics of these herbs and their methods of preparation are described in the Encyclopedia of Chinese Medicine and Herbs, which disclosure is hereby expressly incorporated by reference. A traditional generalization of the operation of these herbs the symptomology for which they are useful, and the activity are described in Ni, Maoshing, Chinese Herbology Made Easy, pages 138-140, 148, 149, 150, and 151, the disclosure of which is hereby expressly incorporated by reference. A still further traditional Chinese herb is Herba Ecliptae, which has traditionally been believed to aid in restoring grayed hair to its original color, and to lessen the loss of hair.
These individual herbs are traditionally administered by ingesting, i.e., swallowing, the herbs. However, it has been found that the activity of these herbs is greatly reduced because the herbs are destroyed by stomach acids before they have had an opportunity to be absorbed into the blood stream.